Initially, the art style of Bully was quite different, but a directive from Rockstar Games necessitated a redesign during its development phase. While the game presents a school-centric narrative rather than the typical crime-ridden scenarios found in Grand Theft Auto, it remains one of Rockstar’s most distinctive titles. This uniqueness can likely be attributed to the creative constraints imposed by the game’s focus on children. Ultimately, the result was an art design that, while inspired by GTA, developed its own identity, a detail the team referred to as a “happy accident.”
“The game was pitched to me as an Americana piece. The aim was to make it resemble a Norman Rockwell painting,” said Andrew Wood, an environment artist for Bully, in an interview with Retro Gamer (issue 277). He remarked that the stylized graphics of the time weren’t as developed as they are today. However, halfway through production, “a mandate came in from the Rockstar head office to make it more photoreal,” leading Wood to explain, “this was the moment when the art team pretty much purged itself from the studio.”
Controversy and Inspirations
Before the release of Bully, Rockstar “laughed at all the controversy” that surrounded the game’s title, noting how people were “freaking out over something they didn’t really know” much about.
Inspiration from Childhood
According to former developer insights, Dan Houser, co-founder of Rockstar and former head of GTA, drew significant inspiration from “his own childhood,” which played a crucial role in shaping the elements of Bully. The game resonates with nostalgic childhood memories for many of its developers.
Technical Challenges from GTA
Rockstar’s usage of the GTA: Vice City codebase to build Bully revealed immediate challenges, particularly in choreography, as players engage in fistfights with other children:
“We had to redo all the textures and revisit models that were originally more stylized and quirky, straightening them out and readjusting them,” Wood elaborated. Despite the significant amount of extra work required, which contributed to what he described as “brutal” crunch periods, Wood ultimately noted that it proved beneficial. “In the scramble to shift the art direction, we ended up with a blend of both styles that, in a very broken, strange, happy-accident way, truly suited that game and its narrative. It acquired its own distinct identity due to that decision.”